Manhattan / Arundel, 1873
The School of Instruction for the Revenue Cutter Service was established in 1900 on the shore of Arundel Cove, off Curtis Bay, below Baltimore, MD. In 1910, this school was moved to New London, Conn., and is now the Coast Guard Academy.
Builder: Chas. Weidener, Chester, Pennsylvania
Length: 102'
Beam: 20' 5"
Draft: 8' 6"
Displacement: 147 tons
Propulsion: Compound-expansion steam engine
Top speed: ?
Complement: 2 officers, 14 crewmen
Armament: 1 x 6-pounder (?)
CUTTER HISTORY:
Manhattan was a cutter built for the Revenue Marine in 1872/1873 at Chester, Pennsylvania, by Charles A. Weidner. She was an iron-hulled harbor tug that was originally fitted with a Cathcart (patent) steering propellor. She was placed in commission at New York late in May 1873. She patrolled the waters of New York harbor and, later, in Long Island Sound until late August of 1874. She set sail for Boston on 25 August and arrived there four days later. Late in July of 1875, Manhattan was transferred to the station at Ogdensburg, N.Y., located well up the St. Lawrence River. That assignment proved to be very brief for, on 2 August, she received orders to Oswego, N.Y., located on the southern shore of Lake Ontario; and the cutter arrived there on 20 August. She returned to Ogdensburg late in November 1875 and was laid up at that port on 30 November 1875.
In mid-May 1876, Manhattan was recommissioned at Oswego. For the next seven years, the cutter spent her summers patrolling the waters of the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario between Ogdensburg and Niagara. In wintertime -- normally from 30 November to sometime in May--she was out of commission either at Ogdensburg or Oswego. Recommissioned in the summer of 1883 Manhattan got underway on 21 August and, after a stop at New York, she arrived at Fort Monroe, Va., on 17 September. The cutter operated at Fort Monroe until late in December when she headed for Baltimore, Md. She arrived at that port on Christmas Day 1883. On the last day of 1883, the ship was placed out of commission at Baltimore.
Early in March 1885, the cutter was put up for sale at Baltimore. The highest bid, however, was substantially less than half of her appraised value, and she was withdrawn from the market. Between late July and early November, Manhattan was loaned to the Marine Hospital Service for duty as quarantine boat at the Virginia capes. In November, she was returned to the Revenue Marine.
Recommissioned again on 29 April 1886, the cutter departed Baltimore for Whitestone, N.Y., that same day and arrived at her destination on 4 May. For much of the remainder of her long career, she operated at various locations in the environs of New York City. For the most part, the cutter served on harbor anchorage patrol, but she also provided patrol services to various civilian regattas and races held around New York and in Long Island Sound.
On 6 April 1917 when the United States entered the war against Germany, Manhattan, along with the rest of the recently reorganized and renamed Coast Guard, was transferred to Navy jurisdiction. Her duties and station, however, remained unchanged. Manhattan spent the war months patrolling the New York anchorage. After almost a year under Navy auspices, she was renamed Arundel on 1 April 1918, because a new Manhattan was being built. On 28 August 1919, Arundel was returned to Coast Guard jurisdiction but continued to patrol the New York anchorage until 1 January 1923. At that time, she was reassigned to duty as station ship at Baltimore. She served in that capacity until 28 April 1928 when she was sold to Mr. George Johnson of Baltimore.
SOURCES:
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol. I, Part A, p. 413.
Donald Canney, U.S. Coast Guard and Revenue Cutters, 1790-1935. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1995, pp. 42-43.